Ok guys. Seriously, what is the absolute worst thing that can happen at your dog's first trial? They blow a start line? They run around and check things out? They say hi to the judge? They leave the ring?

All that should be going through your heads right now with your baby dogs is this: "They are baby dogs, I don't care what they do, I want them to have fun." You have their whole career ahead of them to fix whatever problems they have, and yes they will have problems.

If you are worried about being embarrassed by your baby dog's antics, look around. EVERY SINGLE DOG you see has been a baby dog, they have all run their first trial and they probably did something embarrassing. Every single handler has been in your shoes and they will understand.

Good point. I never would have gone to a trial with Frag if I was that worried about what he may do. At his first trial, he knocked a few bars and jumped off a dog walk. Didn't get any Qs. Oh well! He had fun and so did I... That's the whole point of a game, right?

At every trial I've been to, there is more than a handful of dogs that get zoomies, greet the bar setters, stop on the top of a dog walk/a frame, etc. But you know... They're having fun. And they're dogs. You can't expect them to be predictable all the time. It's just the risk you take when you pay for them to do things I guess.

You've never met Backup he's a go big or go home dog, when we fail we make it count, has a dog ever set a course on fire before? lol

I'm excited, really, but nervous. I mostly hope Denis and Sloan have fun. I love running her and selfishly am jealous but she is his dog through and through and it's only right he runs her while Backup needs me. Still though, it should be an interesting weekend.

WORSE case scenario you run full tilt into a teeter, trip over a tunnel, and your dog barks manically at the judge the stewards, runs a couple laps around the ring, wrecks some jumps, and then you leave.

Which has happened thousands of times with people and and dogs far more experienced and at much more prestigious events. It's really not a big deal.

As long as your dog doesn't try to eat any people or dogs and you both walk away unscathed, it's just another learning experience.

Chill If for no other reason than because chilling with help reduce the likelihood of canine insanity lol

Wraps are going much better right now. Tighter and faster and happier. Now I just need more discrimination so when I ask for one direction I actually get the direction I asked for.

Miss Georgie started learning 2x2 weaves last night. She's such a clever girly! I told her "You need to learn your weavies so you can show up all the other dogs in class!" Then I remembered her class consists of Payton (can already weave) and Henri (not even close to starting weaves.) So then I told her she needs to join a different class so she can show up all the other dogs in THAT class.

I do need to get a food toy I can throw for her. She likes toys, but if there's food present she won't have anything to do with the toys. (Just like Uncle Auggie.) Any ideas? I'm thinking about just slicing into one of the Kong tennis balls Payton has killed and popping cookies inside, but I'm not sure. I have a sock that she destroyed that I considered putting cookies in so she can tug the sock for the cookies but I don't know if she will play the game. I don't own a Tug-It...

Tsuki's first trial was awful. But what she did do, even though it wasn't in sequence or the right direction, she still got praise. The judge afterwards came up to me and thanked me for my positive attitude.

She has a couple big rosettes for NQing in anything that hang up on my wall next to Kiba's title ribbons. In my head I want us to Q every run, but really now after having so many awesome runs, and so many bad runs, our first rule is to go out and have fun. And THEN bring home all the pretty ribbons (even if they're not green!).

Kiba's trial was an even bigger clusterf**k. It was sooo hot and all she wanted to do was hide in the tunnels.

You've never met Backup he's a go big or go home dog, when we fail we make it count, has a dog ever set a course on fire before? lol

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I had a horse literally jump out of the ring at a show once. It can't get much worse than that. I think it will go WAY better than you are expecting. Don't set yourself, or him, up for failure. Going in positive is always much better than thinking the worst. You are a fantastic trainer and he has come a long way.

Izzies first trial was awesome and we got a jumpers Q our first run ever, BUT I ran face first into the side of the a-frame during a MASTERS snooker run this past February. The judge was laughing at me. We did end up getting the Q though.

I do need to get a food toy I can throw for her. She likes toys, but if there's food present she won't have anything to do with the toys. (Just like Uncle Auggie.) Any ideas? ..

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There are clear tubes with rubberized tops available at hardware stores. They have slits in the rubber (like old style change purses) so you can squeeze the tube and make treats fall out and the treats are visible. They are very cheap. OR clean run has these awesome Velcro close able balls that you can put treats into. Robin LOVES his!

There are clear tubes with rubberized tops available at hardware stores. They have slits in the rubber (like old style change purses) so you can squeeze the tube and make treats fall out and the treats are visible. They are very cheap.

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Ooooh, that's a good idea! I can pick some of those up easily. Thanks!

I have a ball on a rope that is a velcro one, but the rope is almost three feet long D= I bought it because I thought it would be a good toy, but the rope is really just so long it doesn't seem very practical. I think I might tie a bunch of knots in it or something to shorten it up.

Ooooh, that's a good idea! I can pick some of those up easily. Thanks!

I have a ball on a rope that is a velcro one, but the rope is almost three feet long D= I bought it because I thought it would be a good toy, but the rope is really just so long it doesn't seem very practical. I think I might tie a bunch of knots in it or something to shorten it up.

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I use a two handled tug bag thingie from genuine dog gear. I don't know what exactly its called on there as I call it "the slime bag" because I put wet food in it and well yeah. Izzie likes it.

Depending on your end goals for her, it may be worth your time to just work on a strong tug/retrieve-food pairing for Georgie. Kim and Web were both like that... Food >> Toy... It took a bit but it's really nice to have that strong association so interacting with the object becomes a bridge to food.

Just my two cents though. I've used thrown/closed bait bags and food-in-tugs and the hardware plastic things and while I know a lot of people like them, for me they always felt like bandaids and once I could justbuse whatever toy I had handy and reward back it seemed like the dogs were able to think more cleanly and focus better. Probably just personal preference and how I use rewards, though.

I do need to get a food toy I can throw for her. She likes toys, but if there's food present she won't have anything to do with the toys. (Just like Uncle Auggie.) Any ideas? I'm thinking about just slicing into one of the Kong tennis balls Payton has killed and popping cookies inside, but I'm not sure. I have a sock that she destroyed that I considered putting cookies in so she can tug the sock for the cookies but I don't know if she will play the game. I don't own a Tug-It...

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I haven't seen the toys Falon was talkinga about at hardware stores, so if you can't find them, clean run has them!

Depending on your end goals for her, it may be worth your time to just work on a strong tug/retrieve-food pairing for Georgie. Kim and Web were both like that... Food >> Toy... It took a bit but it's really nice to have that strong association so interacting with the object becomes a bridge to food.

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Oh, I totally agree. Part of the problem is that Georgie is not my dog so there's only so much I can do with her... a lot of this stuff is supposed to be my mom's responsibility. The deal is supposed to be she trains the skills but I will handle the dog. I have been asking her for about a year to work on some one jump stuff to build her forward focus, there's ONE exercise in particular I asked her to do... has she done it? NOPE. She has been working on left/right, or at least she did for a while. I bought Georgie a Chuck-It bumper for her birthday LAST year to build a retrieve because she was having a blast playing with Payton's (but I really don't want Georgie to tear up my dog's toys, they do a well enough job of that on their own.) It's still attached to the cardboard packaging. Her next birthday is two months from tomorrow... *sigh*

The weaves are supposed to be my mom's job as well, but if I wait for my mom to teach her it will never happen. She told me last week "We'll watch the 2x2 DVD this weekend and then I'll start teaching her next week." Not only did we not watch the DVD, but yesterday was Thursday and I was the one to insist we get started. ;P I came home after teaching puppy classes and picked up Georgie and was like "What's that?! You say you want to go work on weaves?? Tell Mama you want to work on weaves!!" LOL. My mom went out with me to watch and hopefully I will be able to turn it over to her at some point but I'm not optimistic. I am going to be teaching Georgie weave poles. =P I don't really MIND, I enjoy playing with Georgie, but it's difficult to teach her the massive amounts of skills I really would like her to have when she's not mine and I don't have access to her all the time, and will have even less time with her once I move out. =/

Oh, I totally agree. Part of the problem is that Georgie is not my dog so there's only so much I can do with her... a lot of this stuff is supposed to be my mom's responsibility. The deal is supposed to be she trains the skills but I will handle the dog. I have been asking her for about a year to work on some one jump stuff to build her forward focus, there's ONE exercise in particular I asked her to do... has she done it? NOPE. She has been working on left/right, or at least she did for a while. I bought Georgie a Chuck-It bumper for her birthday LAST year to build a retrieve because she was having a blast playing with Payton's (but I really don't want Georgie to tear up my dog's toys, they do a well enough job of that on their own.) It's still attached to the cardboard packaging. Her next birthday is two months from tomorrow... *sigh*

The weaves are supposed to be my mom's job as well, but if I wait for my mom to teach her it will never happen. She told me last week "We'll watch the 2x2 DVD this weekend and then I'll start teaching her next week." Not only did we not watch the DVD, but yesterday was Thursday and I was the one to insist we get started. ;P I came home after teaching puppy classes and picked up Georgie and was like "What's that?! You say you want to go work on weaves?? Tell Mama you want to work on weaves!!" LOL. My mom went out with me to watch and hopefully I will be able to turn it over to her at some point but I'm not optimistic. I am going to be teaching Georgie weave poles. =P I don't really MIND, I enjoy playing with Georgie, but it's difficult to teach her the massive amounts of skills I really would like her to have when she's not mine and I don't have access to her all the time, and will have even less time with her once I move out. =/

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Yeah I kind of thought that might be the case but figured it was worth a shot in case anything had changed.

The plastic tube things are usually in the hardware section of the hardware stores here. If you ask a worker it would probably help to have a picture of them -- they tend to give blank stares otherwise lol.

Or if you have an old pair of jeans or something of similar heavy cloth and feel like sewing, it's pretty easy to make a stuffable tug, too.

And today's outdoor trial included low flying helicopters and military jets, winds so strong they were blowing over ez-ups, and a tractor driving 20 yards from the ring flipping around hay.

My dog's brain was nowhere to be found.

ARGH...we left halfway through the day, because it was clearly a lost cause. She left the ring to chase the tractor once, ran zoomies around after the ez-up blew over when I released her from the start line, and managed to string together a handful of obstacles on the other runs, but ughhhh. There is no way to proof this stuff. I live in the suburbs, we don't have tractors or helicopters, sheep, or blowing ez-ups. I can proof barking dogs. I can proof ring crew and judges and weird noises. I can proof getting stuck for ages on the start line. But I cannot help my poor little ADD spaz dog deal with the stress of unknowns of outdoor trials This sucks.

I am signed up for indoor/outdoor/indoor the next 3 weekends. I think I am going to forfeit the outdoor trial and hope that she is able to find her brain inside next weekend...

I just want some validation that the tens of thousands of dollars I've spent on training isn't completely wasted.